A proposal for a unified approach to policing European Union    data was released Tuesday, but member states are likely to    bicker over it.  
    The new law would apply to all companies operating in the    European Union, no matter where they are based, and authorities    would have the power to impose multimillion-dollar fines on any    company that misuses Europeans' data.  
    Home Affairs ministers from all 28 EU member states will meet    June 6 to try to come to an agreement on which authorities    should handle complaints about the misuse of data when the    companies and complainants are in different countries. But    Dutch Data Protection Commissioner Jacob Kohnstamm said he    doubts they will reach even partial agreement due to    in-fighting between member states. Once agreed at the EU level,    the regulation would not be implemented at the national level    for another two years, giving businesses time to comply.  
    The text released Tuesday shows that the current compromise    proposal is for a two-tier system: a local data protection    authority in the country of the complainant and a lead    authority in the country of the company. This in itself is not    new, but some member states have complained about the plan,    forcing the Council to come up with tighter rules about which    authority is involved and when. Some member states fear that    they could become subject to data laws from another country.  
    A local supervisory authority will deal with "local cases" when    both complainant and company are in the same country. They will    also have the right to make decisions on amicable settlements    if only one person is involved, as well as the possibility of    submitting a draft decision to the lead authority if they feel    strongly about a case.  
    Under the new plan, local data-protection authorities will also    have four weeks to object to a decision by a lead authority and    the matter will then be referred to the European Data    Protection Board.  
    "The lead authority cannot adopt a 'go-it-alone' attitude but    needs to cooperate with the local authority and must, where    appropriate, draw up a draft decision on the measure to be    taken and submit it to all authorities concerned for their    opinion and take due account of their views," the proposal    says.  
    This tightening of the rules may appease countries like    Germany, which wants its own stringent privacy rules to set the    standard and not be watered down by regulators in other    countries.  
    Meanwhile, although some companies have welcomed the plan to    have a single point of contact rather than comply with    regulators in 28 different countries, John Higgins, director    general of Digital Europe, a trade body whose members include    Microsoft and Apple, said he was concerned that "the new rules    will remain as fragmented as they are today, but it will cost    more to comply."  
    The proposal seems that it would have the most impact in    Ireland where many U.S. technology companies, including    Facebook, Google and Amazon, have European headquarters because    of low tax rates.  
Read more from the original source:
One EU data protection authority to rule them all, under new proposal